"Good thinking, Igor," says Brianna. She starts to sing a song.
Unlike her previous songs, this one is directed specifically to
inspire greatness in Veracity. Veracity feels extra hearty and
confident.

Yol also conjures two spells, one for herself, and one for Kress.
"That's an anti-toast spell for you, Kress. You seem to attract
fire," she comments. "Thanks," says Kress.

Igor applies his shoulder to the double door and shoves it open to
reveal an octagonal room, fully forty five feet across, with a thirty
foot ceiling. In the center of the room, a stone pillar rises fully
fifteen feet towards the ceiling. On top is a throne of bone with a
gaunt drow woman draped casually across it.

Veracity steps into the room and gazes up at the throne 15 feet off
the ground. She steps aside to allow her friends easier access. Yol
follows her in and steps to the opposite side of the door, chanting.
Hazen sneaks into the room and stops near Yol. Kress flies through
the air and strikes the drow with his battle-axe. Although it was a
might blow, the axe swishes through the drow's body, as if it were
air. "What," says Kress, staring. Igor flies up and duplicates
Kress's feat. "Hmm," says Igor. Brianna comes up behind Veractiy and
looks up at the pillar, still singing. Tebryn steps in and stops at
the door, also staring at the pillar. Dessa comes in and moves to
near Veracity.

"That's an illusion," says Veracity. "Ignore it. I wonder where she
really is?" She starts intently looking around the room. Yol
mutters and waves her hand and stares intently into the room.
"Nothing alive, dead, or undead in this direction," she says. Hazen
moves to the right wall and starts to search the room for other exits.
Kress and Igor look intently around, puzzled at not seeing any sign of
the real Dorina. Brianna continues to sing for her companion. Tebryn
looks around for Dorina. Dessa shrugs, and moving to the wall
opposite from Hazen, starts to search for secret exits.

"OK. What's with this pillar, anyway?" wonders Veracity. She moves
farther away from the door and stares up at the pillar from a
different perspective, followed by her singing companion. Yol turns
and magically scans in a different direction. "Nor here, either," she
reports. Kress flies up and stares at the ceiling. Igor lands next
to Yol. "Check Dessa," he suggests. "I guess she's not in this
room," says Tebryn. He starts searching the left wall, along with
Dessa.

From some unknown spot, strange muttering is heard. A holy symbol of
Kiaransalee lands on the floor, halfway between the pillar and the
wall, near Brianna and Veracity.

Veracity stares at the holy symbol and her eyes narrow. "Are you
invisible, then?" she asks. She mutters an arcane phrase and her eyes
flash for a moment. Igor charges over to Dessa, intent on questioning
her. Tebryn nods at Veracity. "Good thinking!" He mutters and waves
his fingers and his eyes also flash briefly.

A wave of black motes descends momentarily on the room and everybody
except the drow take a little bit of damage from negative energy.
"Ugh." says Igor. A column of flame descends on Igor, but he dodges
it. "Hey!" says Igor.

Veracity looks around the room with her enhanced eyesight, but sees no
invisible creatures. Yol scans the final segment of the room. "She's
not here, near as I can tell." Igor questions Dessa: "Where could she
be hiding?" "I don't know," responds Dessa. "I've not been in here
very often. This was the Matron's private room." Tebryn walks over
to the holy symbol and stares at it. He looks back and forth between
the wall and the pillar. "This was hurled from somewhere close," he
comments.

Kress stiffens. His body plunges to the floor. "Ooof!" he grunts,
involuntarily. A ring of whirling blades surrounds Igor and Dessa.
Dessa is thrust out of the area of effect, but Igor is trapped
within. "Ow!"

"All right," says Veracity. "I'll search this wall here." She moves
over and starts intently searching for a concealed peephole or door.
Yol looks north and waves her hand, muttering. She stares intently at
the wall. "Nothing magical there." "I'll check out the pillar,
Tebryn," says Hazen. He moves up to it. A mace emerges from the
pillar and strikes him. "Hey! The whole pillar is an illusion!
There she is!" Igor leaps out of the ring of whirling blades and runs
up to Brianna. "I'm badly hurt. Cure me, please!" "Of course," says
Brianna. She stops her song praising Veracity and sings a short
healing melody. She touches Igor, curing a lot of damage. Tebryn
stares intently at the pillar. He nods. "Ah. Gotcha!"

Dorina steps out of the pillar, mutters and waves her hand, and steps
back into the pillar next to Hazen. She touches him. He starts,
clutching at his chest, and glares at her. "Can't get me that
easily!" Dorina scowls at him and hits Yol twice with her mace.

Dessa moves up next to Tebryn and studies the pillar intently.
Veracity moves up next to Dessa and studies the pillar. Yol backs up
and draws her sword. Hazen draws his sword and attacks Dorina,
striking her. Igor moves up and simply swings his sword through the
illusory pillar. "I can't see you, but my sword can still slice you!"
"Go, Igor!" says Brianna. She starts singing a song of inspiration
specifically for Igor. Tebryn mutters and a bolt of cold blackness
whizzes past Dorina's shoulder. "Darn. I missed!"

Dorina swings her mace twice at Hazen, hitting only once. She leans
over and touches his shoulder. He shudders, as a wave of negative
energy courses through his body, leaving him weaker. He gasps.

Dessa smiles. "I see you now." She clutches her glaive, prepared to
strike the vampire priestess. Veracity mutters and five missiles of
force streak from her hand. All fizzle harmlessly when they strike
Dorina. Veracity stamps her foot. Yol mutters and points to Kress.
he stands up and swings his battle-axe through the pillar, missing
Dorina. Hazen hastily backs away. Igor strikes Dorina and his vision
clears. "About time! I can see you now, drow!" Tebryn incants and
points to Igor, who starts moving with unnatural speed.

Dorina points to Kress and commands him: "Flee!" Kress runs out the
double doors. Dorina turns to Igor and swings at him three times,
missing every time.

"Aargh!" bellows the enraged Dessa. She swings her glaive fiercely at
Dorina, striking her twice and missing once. Veracity steps up and
strikes at Dorina three times, missing every time. "Why NOW?" she
complains. Yol chants and touches herself, curing herself. Tebryn
incants and sends five missiles of force at Dorina. Two of them
fizzle but three strike her.

Dorina chants and waves her hands. She then attacks Igor three times,
but misses.

Dessa seems wearied by her previous effort, but swings her glaive
another three times at Dorina, hitting only once. Veracity strikes
Dorina with the Sword of Kas. Igor takes the opportunity to
strike her and she goes gaseous. Her gaseous form drifts out the
double doors, just as Kress comes running back. "Where is she? Let
me at her!"

"Hah, hah, hah," says Veracity to the departing gaseous vampire. "I
don't believe for a moment that your coffin is out there. We should
search the walls in here."

Veracity is standing at a side table, looking with admiration at a
large weirwood lyre inlaid with mithril. "Brianna, look at this!"
Brianna comes up and expertly plays a short melody. "This is
gorgeous! A masterwork instrument, and beautifully decorated."

"We'll search," suggests Igor. "You load up the loot."

Tebryn spreads out his portable hole and joins Hazen and Igor in
searching the walls. Dessa looks dour as Veracity and Brianna place
the lyre into it, along with a small jewelry case containing a dragon
bone comb, a golden hair brush, a silver brooch bearing the emblem of
House Morcane, and a small silk pouch of agates, but doesn't object.

"We found it!" says Igor, pointing out a secret door in the north
wall. "Look at this," says Hazen, depressing a stone on the lower
right corner of it. Quickly, the rogues depress stones in other three
corners and the door sinks in four inches and silently rolls to the
left.

The walls of the secret chamber are plastered white and its floor is
tiled with flagstones. In the center is a large stone sepulcher
covered in gorgeous shining copper leaf. The lid is carved to
resemble a beautiful drow woman. Strong copper bands fasten the lid
to the rest of the coffin.

"How do we open this?" says Kress. "Looks like we need to break the
bands."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it," says Hazen, rubbing his hands together and
flexing his fingers. He works at it intently for a while. "That was
incredibly difficult, but I think I got it."

"Just in case, let me try to dispel it. We'll hope that one or the
other of us succeeds." He mutters and points at the glyph. It flares
and fades.

"OK. Now we open it ... how, exactly?" wonders Kress. "Pry those
bands. Hmm."

"Here's a thought," says Veracity. "She didn't come in here, did
she?" says Veracity. "She was trying to lead us away from here.
But, she must return within two hours, or she's gone, gone,
gone. So, why not just guard this for a couple of hours?"

"Why not?" says Igor. The party sets up in a ring around the coffin
and watches, conversing in low voices. Several times, the gaseous
Dorina seeps into the door from the main room before hastily
withdrawing.

(4:30 PM)

Finally, the time has passed. "She's dead," says Veracity. "Open it
up." Kress pries some of the copper sheath away from the stone and
Igor uses his longtooth dagger to cut a hole through the stone.
He reaches inside and pulls out an elegant bone scroll tube and two
small wooden coffers. One of the coffers contains platinum, gold, and
silver coins. The other contains a clerical scroll, a wand, and a
map. The scroll tube contains a letter.

Tebryn spreads out the map. "This will help," he says, pointing his
finger from spot to spot as he speaks. "It's a map from Szith Morcane
to Maerimydra. Look, the path goes from here to the Lake of Shadows.
Must be big: it says to go along the north edge of the lake for
seventeen miles and exit at this other passage east. From there to
something called 'Glourath's Chasm', thence to 'Lich's Mire', and
thence to Maerimydra. That's our route, I'd say! Three other
passages are marked: One from the south shore of the lake and one west
from Maerimydra, both marked 'To Azmaer's Folly'. One southeast from
Maerimydra marked 'To Hap'".

"Azmaer's Folly is another name for the Twisted Tower in Shadowdale,"
says Brianna. "I'm not sure why, though."

"And look at this letter," says Veracity. "It's from 'Mother' to
'Daughter' and is written in Drow. I wonder who Dorina's mother is?
In any case, it says this:"

Daughter:

Our Dark Lady favors my efforts, and my research proceeds
well. Within five tendays, perhaps six, all will be ready for the
Day of Great Vengeance. The Spider Queen is dead; we have already
brought low the Spider-kissers and seized our rightful place in the
realms of the dark. Now the Day draws near when we shall avenge
ourselves upon those of the day-blasted lands, too, and achieve that
ultimate triumph denied us so long ago.

While I prepare my Great Revenance, it falls to you to make ready
the way. Harry the surface-dwellers, hunt them in their woods and
fields, and take the measure of their strength. Do not concern
yourself with putting them on their guard; our Lady desires their
blood, their fear, and their dreadful anticipation of our ultimate
act of revenge. With each slaying we grow in her favor and sow the
seeds of our coming victory.

If they come against you in Szith Morcane in irresistible strength,
slay as many as you can. Withdraw from the fight if you must and
bring Zedarr with you, but as for the rest - they are to stand and
die for the glory of the White Banshee. The battle for Szith
Morcane will come to nothing when our Great Revenance comes to pass.
If anything, our final vengeance is made ever sweeter by each
fleeting, false hope our enemies entertain before it falls upon
them.

Work great slaughter for our Lady's dark glory, my daughter. Soon I
will come to you from Maerimydra with such dark and terrible might
that all Faerûn will tremble before us.